https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/classes daily 0.75 2018-11-08 https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/yoga daily 0.75 2018-12-28 https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/home daily 1.0 2020-01-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1578957896039-C7VQYPBMH1YPA4LS1KGU/Doulaing%2Bwith%2BKirana.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1539817960753-V3EHM5HKB0DMEHJ8NJPJ/On+the+way+to+Machu+Pichu.jpg Shawn McSweeney - More about Me I live with my husband of many years in a little cottage in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. We moved back to California after 25 years living in Spain and raising our two remarkable children. It is like coming full circle for us, because we met here in the Bar Area long ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511299469921-7Q1G3WM4LHDMVSJKEM1D/shawn+with+happy+glads+Big.JPG Shawn McSweeney - Artist My artwork is influenced by my experiences as a mother, mystic, doula, musician and yogini. I start each studio session with centering and listening from deep within. I enjoy painting figuratively and from nature. Many of my paintings are from archetypal sources that we all can relate to. From there, depending on what I find, questions usually emerge that are the starting point for my work. Sometimes quirky, sometimes fantastical, -and mostly these questions are about the mysteries of life. Questions like “Who am I?” “Why are we here?” and "why is this so heartbreakingly beautiful?" "How do you paint delight"? “What is there beyond this life?” When I paint I use many of the same principals that I use when I am teaching yoga or accompanying a woman in childbirth: Balance and flow, trust in intuition, strength and flexibility, letting go, rhythmic work. As a birth and postpartum doula I have had the unique opportunity of witnessing new beings coming into this world and into the loving arms of their parents. I have also had the unique privilege of accompanying a dear friend in illness and as she left this world. These experiences have left an indelible impression on me and influence my way as an artist. Currently I am studying portrait and figure drawing in charcoal in Los Gatos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511299975811-W1MHEH8NGX33THC3R5YQ/Benvenido+bebes+3.jpg Shawn McSweeney - Doula I have been working with pregnant women and there families for over 20 years, offering prenatal yoga, mother-baby yoga, couples yoga for labor, children yoga, and adult yoga classes. I am is a skilled and trained birth doula, postpartum doula, and lactation consultant. I am interested in re-awakening the connection to sacredness in ordinary daily living. I create a space for my clients to develop and explore this connection and provide them with skillful means to continue this inquiry on their own, whether practicing yoga, raising a family or exploring their role in the collective unfolding of life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1578274113278-KV2GQMXTD2QDJ5V72CS3/image-asset.jpeg Shawn McSweeney - YOga and meditation teacher I have been practicing yoga and meditation for over 30 years, and have been teaching for nearly as long. I am trained and certified in various schools of yoga and have synthesized them into an effective and fun way to be present on and off the mat, on and off the cushion. I love to learn and am continually taking workshops from my own teachers so that I can grow and flourish in my own life, as well as to ensure that my offerings are of a high caliber. I am currently completing a two year course in to be certified as a mindfulness meditation teacher through The Greater Good Science Center of UC Berkeley, and though Sounds True. My teachers have included the senior teachers of The Iyengar Yoga Center of San Francisco, and Barcelona. Senior teachers of Integral Yoga Center in Barcelona, New York, and Yogaville, as well as senior teachers of the Dynamic Yoga Training Method in Spain, France and in Portugal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511303758563-WTC9I9I49WDXD87WFDE3/Shawn1.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511306012518-1U9FAQ7VAF6TIK0Q79AE/DSC_0108.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541708109974-IO2ZEXGOGPV8WU4GGOXF/goddess-pose-1.jpg Shawn McSweeney - Hatha Yoga Hatha yoga classes as taught by me consist of progressive flowing sequences built around a unifying theme, as well as static poses focusing on proper alignment. At the beginning levels of practice the instructions offered are basic principles of functional integrity. Unlike most yoga classes that encourage pushing and working to “your edge”, I use specific instructions on lengthening, broadening and softening the various body parts to minimize strong sensations. The instructions are stated as an invitation to honest and kind self-inquiry, and can become a meditation in movement. My easy-going presence and calming voice encourage students to draw their attention inward while gently building strength, mobility, balance, and awareness. Yoga is ideally an opportunity to integrate body, mind and spirit. Trusting the natural intelligence of the body, I offer simple but powerful instruction to recalibrate the body and mind through repetetive systematic movements based on traditional yoga postures, layering and sequencing instruction in a way that is accessible to all. While each class may focus on one area in particular, all of the muscles of the body are integrated so that the movements prepare students to arrive naturally in comfortable and stable stillness. Each class contains a few moments of deep stillness toward the end of the session, where body and mind are in harmony with spirit. I have been trained at the Iyengar Yoga Institute, in The Integral Yoga Method, and most recently ion The Dynamic Yoga Training Method. My personal exploration on the mat as well as teaching others for more than 30 years has led me to trust my body, and my voice’s ability to guide others on their own journey in movement and in stillness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541708844804-ZJR506PFM55AX7AXIVUH/hand-on-harmonium.jpg Shawn McSweeney - Community Kirtan Kirtan is part of the path of Bhakti Yoga or the yoga of devotion, and like all yoga paths, is a way of delving into our most profound sense of who we are. The mantras we chant are divine names or syllables that spring from our collective human archetypes and our spiritual connectedness. Primarily we chant in the ancient language of Sanskrit, which resonates with most everyone in a heart-felt sense of recognition and knowingness. We also occasionally sing in languages from other traditions including Buddhist, Christian, Native American and other traditions. Kirtan with Shawn consists of an hour and a half of chanting accompanied by music played on the harmonium and other instruments with other musicians sitting in when available. Kirtan is sung in the form of call and response chanting that everybody can participate in: the leader, in this case Shawn, sings the mantra or sacred sound first, and the others in the group sing it back, and this is repeated over and over creating a meditative and joyful space for being present together: Listening, singing and opening to source. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541707663856-E4NY5UUNSOAOL0WSLS8X/mariana-exam-class.jpg Shawn McSweeney - yoga for pregnancy My prenatal classes are similar to my regular hatha yoga classes, but the postures and sequences have been modified for the changing bodymind of the pregnant woman. These classes are ideally suited to prepare women physically and emotionally for birth at home, in a birth center, or in a hospital setting. Partners are welcome to join the class. The instruction continues to be precise, although I encourage participants to explore on their own what feels right to them and to change the postures accordingly. Classes are gentle and amendable to the varying stages of pregnancy of each participant. They are designed to build strength, flexibility, balance, and self-awareness –essential qualities for labor, as well as for the amazing challenges of becoming a mom, or adding a member to the family. The mindfulness meditation at the beginning of class includes an invitation for the mother to connect with her baby in her womb. This is a poignant part of the class, as it offers an immediate opening to the miracle of pregnancy, and the sacred mysteries of life. It is a way for a mother to tune in to what she is actually feeling physically and emotionally. Part of each class is dedicated to restorative postures using blankets, bolsters, balls and other props to achieve poses that require little metabolic activity while offering maximum benefits. Classes end with a guided visualization, breath awareness, and deep relaxation. We conclude with a short, seated meditation. In these classes I also offer a lot of hands-on adjustments, as well as massage and gentle touch, with the student’s permission. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541547599957-U7ZNT95EBFL8TGPDM4WQ/Mother%3Ababy+Lulabay2.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1545945338691-OI453QHWTELLWWTIZIGJ/Mother-baby%2BLulabay2.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546460097831-2MTYNIDBEZZGGWH1KU7B/watercolor-process.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546010522515-ITAMCPXGGTY2UGIAIO0A/community-kirtan.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546012539941-31R109QU7QUFPCZFJAKC/Private-mother-baby+%281%29.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546450654895-FQ0FGQ403BWPNZP506RE/livvy-fran-shawn-sitges.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546618433123-ZZ1P2KH0G24U9AV7ZC1G/downward-dog.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546459220990-H9CN7FVVMDBLFEV8RZEJ/DSC_0108.JPG Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1578957642060-ZCI80RX5ZPT3B2OJ1AS8/edited.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1578957989032-WQ7CY0ED14BQ45VDS5ZB/Doulaing%25252Bwith%25252BKirana.jpg Shawn McSweeney https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/event-calendar-artesia daily 0.75 2025-05-09 https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/event-calendar-artesia/2016/5/13/lorem-ipsum-1-jr2xw monthly 0.5 2016-08-26 https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/birthprepforcouples daily 0.75 2020-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541547089076-1S5NT46IBIMD83YD81O2/sean-and-mariana.jpg Birth Preparation for Couples https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/mother-baby daily 0.75 2018-11-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541547599957-U7ZNT95EBFL8TGPDM4WQ/Mother%3Ababy+Lulabay2.jpg Mother/Baby Yoga https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/prenatal-yoga-3 daily 0.75 2020-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541707663856-E4NY5UUNSOAOL0WSLS8X/mariana-exam-class.jpg Prenatal Yoga - yoga for pregnancy My prenatal classes are similar to my regular hatha yoga classes, but the postures and sequences have been modified for the changing bodymind of the pregnant woman. These classes are ideally suited to prepare women physically and emotionally for birth at home, in a birth center, or in a hospital setting. Partners are welcome to join the class. The instruction continues to be precise, although I encourage participants to explore on their own what feels right to them and to change the postures accordingly. Classes are gentle and amendable to the varying stages of pregnancy of each participant. They are designed to build strength, flexibility, balance, and self-awareness –essential qualities for labor, as well as for the amazing challenges of becoming a mom, or adding a member to the family. The mindfulness meditation at the beginning of class includes an invitation for the mother to connect with her baby in her womb. This is a poignant part of the class, as it offers an immediate opening to the miracle of pregnancy, and the sacred mysteries of life. It is a way for a mother to tune in to what she is actually feeling physically and emotionally. Part of each class is dedicated to restorative postures using blankets, bolsters, balls and other props to achieve poses that require little metabolic activity while offering maximum benefits. Classes end with a guided visualization, breath awareness, and deep relaxation. We conclude with a short, seated meditation. In these classes I also offer a lot of hands-on adjustments, as well as massage and gentle touch, with the student’s permission. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1545945025487-7LTBF2FJO4K72JRSGNSY/mariana-exam-class.jpg Prenatal Yoga https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/hatha-yoga-2 daily 0.75 2020-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541708109974-IO2ZEXGOGPV8WU4GGOXF/goddess-pose-1.jpg Hatha Yoga - Hatha Yoga Hatha yoga classes as taught by me consist of progressive flowing sequences built around a unifying theme, as well as static poses focusing on proper alignment. At the beginning levels of practice the instructions offered are basic principles of functional integrity. Unlike most yoga classes that encourage pushing and working to “your edge”, I use specific instructions on lengthening, broadening and softening the various body parts to minimize strong sensations. The instructions are stated as an invitation to honest and kind self-inquiry, and can become a meditation in movement. My easy-going presence and calming voice encourage students to draw their attention inward while gently building strength, mobility, balance, and awareness. Yoga is ideally an opportunity to integrate body, mind and spirit. Trusting the natural intelligence of the body, I offer simple but powerful instruction to recalibrate the body and mind through repetetive systematic movements based on traditional yoga postures, layering and sequencing instruction in a way that is accessible to all. While each class may focus on one area in particular, all of the muscles of the body are integrated so that the movements prepare students to arrive naturally in comfortable and stable stillness. Each class contains a few moments of deep stillness toward the end of the session, where body and mind are in harmony with spirit. I have been trained at the Iyengar Yoga Institute, in The Integral Yoga Method, and most recently ion The Dynamic Yoga Training Method. My personal exploration on the mat as well as teaching others for more than 30 years has led me to trust my body, and my voice’s ability to guide others on their own journey in movement and in stillness. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1545944818551-O4A86PXT4JL3H7G6L9V4/goddess-pose-1.jpg Hatha Yoga https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/postpartum-doula-2 daily 0.75 2018-12-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511303758563-WTC9I9I49WDXD87WFDE3/Shawn1.jpg Postpartum doula https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546012539941-31R109QU7QUFPCZFJAKC/Private-mother-baby+%281%29.jpg Postpartum doula https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/motherbaby-yoga-2 daily 0.75 2018-12-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1541547599957-U7ZNT95EBFL8TGPDM4WQ/Mother%3Ababy+Lulabay2.jpg Mother/Baby Yoga https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1545945338691-OI453QHWTELLWWTIZIGJ/Mother-baby%2BLulabay2.jpg Mother/Baby Yoga https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/birth-doula-1 daily 0.75 2020-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511302514190-H2EXTN37IW1PK45Z8EX1/Doulaing+with+Kirana.jpeg Birth doula https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1545946843049-UYW2T4EC8IP7NL0ZNIFA/Doulaing%2Bwith%2BKirana.jpg Birth doula https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/breastfeeding-help-2 daily 0.75 2018-12-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511306012518-1U9FAQ7VAF6TIK0Q79AE/DSC_0108.jpg Breastfeeding Help https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1545947813832-9FBNSCUY1QYJRRY8SIJD/Breastfeeding%2BLulabay%2B1.jpg Breastfeeding Help https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/contact daily 0.75 2020-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546448894873-7LVDRAT29VIGO8PE7I5Y/image-asset.jpeg Contact https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/about-me daily 0.75 2020-01-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1578274113278-KV2GQMXTD2QDJ5V72CS3/image-asset.jpeg About Shawn - YOga and meditation teacher I have been practicing yoga and meditation for over 30 years, and have been teaching for nearly as long. I am trained and certified in various schools of yoga and have synthesized them into an effective and fun way to be present on and off the mat, on and off the cushion. I love to learn and am continually taking workshops from my own teachers so that I can grow and flourish in my own life, as well as to ensure that my offerings are of a high caliber. I am currently completing a two year course in to be certified as a mindfulness meditation teacher through The Greater Good Science Center of UC Berkeley, and though Sounds True. My teachers have included the senior teachers of The Iyengar Yoga Center of San Francisco, and Barcelona. Senior teachers of Integral Yoga Center in Barcelona, New York, and Yogaville, as well as senior teachers of the Dynamic Yoga Training Method in Spain, France and in Portugal https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511299975811-W1MHEH8NGX33THC3R5YQ/Benvenido+bebes+3.jpg About Shawn - Doula I have been working with pregnant women and there families for over 20 years, offering prenatal yoga, mother-baby yoga, couples yoga for labor, children yoga, and adult yoga classes. I am is a skilled and trained birth doula, postpartum doula, and lactation consultant. I am interested in re-awakening the connection to sacredness in ordinary daily living. I create a space for my clients to develop and explore this connection and provide them with skillful means to continue this inquiry on their own, whether practicing yoga, raising a family or exploring their role in the collective unfolding of life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1511299469921-7Q1G3WM4LHDMVSJKEM1D/shawn+with+happy+glads+Big.JPG About Shawn - Artist My artwork is influenced by my experiences as a mother, mystic, doula, musician and yogini. I start each studio session with centering and listening from deep within. I enjoy painting figuratively and from nature. Many of my paintings are from archetypal sources that we all can relate to. From there, depending on what I find, questions usually emerge that are the starting point for my work. Sometimes quirky, sometimes fantastical, -and mostly these questions are about the mysteries of life. Questions like “Who am I?” “Why are we here?” and "why is this so heartbreakingly beautiful?" "How do you paint delight"? “What is there beyond this life?” When I paint I use many of the same principals that I use when I am teaching yoga or accompanying a woman in childbirth: Balance and flow, trust in intuition, strength and flexibility, letting go, rhythmic work. As a birth and postpartum doula I have had the unique opportunity of witnessing new beings coming into this world and into the loving arms of their parents. I have also had the unique privilege of accompanying a dear friend in illness and as she left this world. These experiences have left an indelible impression on me and influence my way as an artist. Currently I am studying portrait and figure drawing in charcoal in Los Gatos https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1539817960753-V3EHM5HKB0DMEHJ8NJPJ/On+the+way+to+Machu+Pichu.jpg About Shawn - More about Me I live with my husband of many years in a little cottage in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. We moved back to California after 25 years living in Spain and raising our two remarkable children. It is like coming full circle for us, because we met here in the Bar Area long ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a14823cf6576eef2bd7f086/1546450654895-FQ0FGQ403BWPNZP506RE/livvy-fran-shawn-sitges.jpg About Shawn https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/policies-artesia daily 0.75 2025-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57338c9c04426238cff162e3/1463509796110-35Z62FHI8PBFN18FDFWV/20140301_Trade+151_0278.jpg Policies https://www.shawnmcsweeney.net/terms-conditions-artesia daily 0.75 2025-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57338c9c04426238cff162e3/1463509796110-35Z62FHI8PBFN18FDFWV/20140301_Trade+151_0278.jpg Terms & Conditions